Despite tremendous advances in the medical management of congestive heart failure the gold standard for the treatment of end stage congestive heart failure remains cardiac transplantation. The acknowledged critical limitation of sufficient suitable organ donors has resulted in the refinement and development of novel surgical alternatives for the treatment of ...

The use of anthracyclines in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia is limited by associated cardiotoxic effects, which can result in cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure, and may be irreversible. Anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity in long-term survivors of childhood cancer is characterized by reduced left ventricular wall thickness and mass, which is ...

The handwritten note of the post-mortem examination of Dr Samuel Johnson resides in the library of the Royal College of Physicians of London. Headed 'asthma' it suggests that he had only one functioning kidney, probably had hypertension, left ventricular hypertrophy and congestive heart failure. This article describes an imaginary presentation ...

The main goals of this study were (1) to carry out a retrospective study of the prevalence of left apical systolic heart murmurs, which are considered to clinically reflect the presence of MVD, in the 6 small canine breeds most popular in France, i.e., Yorkshire Terrier, Bichon Maltese, Dachshund, Poodle, ...

Hyponatremia is common and associated with adverse outcomes in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). In many patients who have CHF with hyponatremia, plasma arginine vasopressin (AVP) is elevated inappropriately. AVP causes water retention by interacting with V2 receptors in the renal collecting duct, leading to dilutional hyponatremia and increased ...

Isolated noncompaction of the ventricular myocardium is thought to be caused by arrest of normal embryogenesis of the endocardium and myocardium. Clinical manifestations are highly variable, from no symptoms to congestive heart failure, arrhythmias, and systemic thromboemboli. Both familial and sporadic forms have been described, and mutations of certain genes ...

Patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) have specific factors that enhance the risk for erectile dysfunction (ED), such as low cardiac output and the use of drugs with vasodilator effect. ED can negatively affect interpersonal relationships and self-esteem, with significant impact on the quality of life. We hypothesized that the ...

Aortico-left ventricular tunnel (ALVT) is a rare congenital malformation characterized by an abnormal communication between aorta and left ventricular cavity and the child presents with features of congestive heart failure in early infancy. We report the case of a 7-day-old baby who was diagnosed as a case of ALVT by ...

Comorbidity measures are designed to exclude complications when they map International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9-CM) codes to diagnostic categories. The use of data fields that indicates whether each secondary diagnosis was present at the time of hospital admission may lead to the more accurate identification of preexisting conditions. To examine ...

Although it is recognized that aggressive soft tissue sarcomas may give rise to cardiac metastases, these manifestations are usually late and clinically silent, being the prevailing finding in exceptional cases. This report describes the occurrence of a massive cardiac metastasis at diagnosis of leg rhabdomyosarcoma in a middle-age adult. This ...

Although the use of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) to treat refractory heart failure is not new, in combination with current medical treatment it improves patients'symptoms as well as their cardiac function. We started 16 patients (13 men with a mean age of 66.3 +/- 2.8 years, and 3 women ...

A 67-year-old male patient received a coronary artery bypass graft. Less than 2 months afterward, he presented with recurrent exacerbations of congestive heart failure. His response to a standard treatment regimen for heart failure was partly successful, but a few days after discharge he was readmitted for worsening dyspnea and ...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Congestive heart failure is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, especially in older persons. In advanced stages of the disease, congestive heart failure can be associated with serious complications such as cardiac cachexia (defined here as weight loss of more than 6% in 6 months). This ...

Most hospitalizations for acute heart failure syndrome (AHFS) are related to clinical congestion as a result of high left ventricular diastolic pressure (LVDP) rather than to low cardiac output. Patients frequently develop "hemodynamic congestion" (high LVDP) several days to weeks before the onset of symptoms and signs of clinical congestion. ...

We report an unusual case of pseudoaneurysm and coarctation of the descending thoracic aorta after trauma. The coarctation of aorta resulted in hypertension, severe left ventricular dysfunction, and symptoms of congestive heart failure. Surgical bypass resulted in control of blood pressure and improvement of heart failure symptoms. The mechanism of ...

Two cases of congestive heart failure with decompensation are presented. The OptiVol fluid index (Medtronic, Inc., Minneapolis, MN) provides an objective gauge of fluid status that can be difficult to obtain with routine clinical history or even with physical examination. The Cardiac Compass Report (Medtronic, Inc.) can identify a patient's ...

Essential thrombocytosis is a chronic disease characterized by both quantitative and qualitative abnormalities of platelets. These platelet abnormalities have been reported to be associated with a thrombogenic and haemorrhagic tendency. Cardiovascular complications may develop in patients with essential thrombocytosis due to an abnormal thrombogenic and haemorrhagic tendency. In the present ...

Anaemia is common in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). Its prevalence increases with disease severity as a consequence of renal insufficiency, cytokine production, blood loss, iron deficiency, malnutrition and/or plasma volume overload. Anaemia can contribute to worsening of CHF. There is a nonlinear relationship (U-shaped curve) between haemoglobin and ...

Understanding of the initiation and progression of congestive heart failure was previously based on the hemodynamic hypothesis, which held that the primary pathophysiology of myocardial dysfunction was due to impairment of the myocardium's ability to function as a pump. The neurohormonal hypothesis, which supplanted this hypothesis, suggests that activation of ...

We report a case of myocardial tuberculosis in an 18-year-old male. He had been diagnosed with isolated asymmetrical septal hypertrophy cardiomyopathy and presented severe congestive heart failure for 4 months. Echocardiography and magnetic resonance studies showed localized echodense shadows and cavities in the thickness of the left ventricle myocardium with ...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether Ramadan fasting has any effect on patients with heart disease. METHODS: We prospectively studied 465 outpatients with heart disease who were fasting during the month of Ramadan from October 24 to November 24, 2003. These studied subjects were from various medical centers in the Gulf region; ...

Fetal echocardiography is used in the diagnosis of many forms of congenital heart disease, and in the assessment of the prognosis of cardiac lesions based on their anatomy and presentation in utero. However, the presence of signs of fetal heart failure such as hydrops or valvular regurgitation makes the assessment ...

BACKGROUND: The term "myocytolysis" was first used to define the repair process of contraction band necrosis associated with an acute myocardial infarction. On the other hand, in the latter condition a "myofibrillolysis," presenting edematous myocardial cells not involved by infarct necrosis, and without evidence of repair process was reported. The ...

Syncope can be caused by either cardiogenic or noncardiogenic causes. Structural heart diseases should be considered as a possible cause of recurrent episodes of syncope if no other causes are found. We report an 18 month-old girl who presented with recurrent syncope as well as dyspnea, failure to thrive, and ...

To investigate the predictors for adverse clinical outcome in patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C) during long term follow up. 61 patients with ARVD/C were studied to assess the impact of family history, clinical findings, surface ECG parameters, echocardiographic findings, and electrophysiological findings on clinical outcome. The prevalence of ...

Ramipril is an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor that has been extensively studied in randomised, controlled clinical trials in patients with cardiovascular diseases. Therapy with ramipril in patients with various cardiovascular disorders has demonstrated significant and clinically important reductions in cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke, congestive heart failure, progressive renal impairment and ...

Place of residence is associated with health outcomes. To examine neighborhood effects on mortality after the onset of serious disease and to assess whether these effects vary for different sociodemographic or diagnostic subgroups. Our sample consists of a complete cohort of 10,557 elderly Medicare beneficiaries throughout the city of Chicago ...

Because of their potent hemodynamic effects, organic nitrates have been introduced in the cardiovascular pharmacopoeia since more than a century in the treatment of coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure. Today, nitroglycerin is the most commonly prescribed generic drug in Italy. While their hemodynamic effects and some of their ...

To compare the risk of death and recurrent congestive heart failure in elderly patients prescribed celecoxib, rofecoxib, or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and to determine whether there are class differences between celecoxib and rofecoxib. Population based retrospective cohort study. Databases of hospital discharge summaries and prescription drug claims in Quebec. ...

The authors used a case-crossover approach to evaluate the association between ambient air pollution and the rate of hospitalization for congestive heart failure among Medicare recipients (aged > or =65 years) residing in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh area), Pennsylvania, during 1987-1999. They also explored effect modification by age, gender, and specific ...

OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to determine the distribution of pleural effusion between the right and left hemithorax in patients with uncomplicated congestive heart failure, and to determine whether left-sided pleural effusion actually constitutes an atypical distribution in congestive heart failure. METHODS: The study group consisted of 120 consecutive patients ...

Although there has been substantial progress in the treatment of congestive heart failure over the last several decades, it is clear that heart failure continues to burden our aging population. As the epidemic of heart failure grows, there remains an unmistakable need for novel diagnostic and therapeutic options in its ...

Congestive heart failure is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world and is now the leading cause of hospitalizations in adults over 65 years of age with an estimated annual expenditure in excess of USD 20 billion. In addition, it is the only cardiovascular disorder that continues ...

OBJECTIVE: To report the importance of hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy as a potential substrate for difficult weaning from mechanical ventilation. DESIGN AND SETTING: Case report in an adult intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital. PATIENTS: Two patients who developed intractable pulmonary edema with subsequent difficult weaning from mechanical ventilation ...

The Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) is a recently developed disease-specific instrument for measuring health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) regardless of aetiology. To assess the reliability and validity of the KCCQ in patients with previous myocardial infarction (MI). In 754 myocardial infarction patients ...

An increase in the prevalence of both atrial fibrillation and congestive heart failure is occurring in part because of the demographic shift toward an aging population. These two clinical entities often coexist in the same patient, resulting in the worsening of symptoms and prognosis, rendering their management even more challenging. ...

BACKGROUND: The importance of anaemia in chronic heart failure was highlighted recently by different cohort studies. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of anaemia and its relationship to renal function, left ventricular function and symptoms of heart failure. METHODS: We surveyed cases of patients admitted to ...

A case of juvenile hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with congestive liver cirrhosis is reported. The patient was a 21-year-old woman. She had been diagnosed as having transposition of the great arteries, type 2, in 1978. She underwent the Mustard operation, but suffered from chronic heart failure. In 1995, she experienced abdominal ...

BACKGROUND: Heart-type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP) is released into the circulation when the myocardium is injured and is a novel marker for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. The purpose of the present study was to examine the clinical significance of increased serum H-FABP levels in patients with congestive ...

BACKGROUND: Ephedra is a sympathomimetic commonly used for the purposes of athletic performance enhancement and weight loss. It is known to be associated with gastrointestinal and psychiatric manifestations. We report here on 6 cases of dilated cardiomyopathy associated with ephedra use. METHODS AND RESULTS: Over a period of 18 months, ...

Hawthorn (Crataegus) may play a role in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and in particular, congestive heart failure. Evidence is accumulating that hawthorn may induce anti-ischemia/reperfusion-injury, anti-arrhythmic, hypolipidemic and hypotensive effects. These beneficial effects may in part be due to the presence of antioxidant ...

It has been reported that growth hormone (GH) deficiency induced cardiomyopathy responds to growth hormone replacement therapy. We describe the case of a middle-aged male with cardiomyopathic heart failure and growth hormone deficiency of the adult secondary to surgical panhypopituitarism. We demonstrate clinical and hemodynamic improvement of cardiac function with ...

Ethnic variations in prevalence, presentation characteristics, and mortality have been identified in Canadian patients with coronary artery disease. Similar data with respect to heart failure do not exist. A retrospective sequential chart review of South Asians and non-South Asian Whites in Canada hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of congestive heart ...

A 10-year-old boy with tetralogy of Fallot and congestive heart failure underwent a right-sided modified Blalock-Taussig anastomosis because of severe biventricular dysfunction and repeated hypercyanotic spells. Postoperatively, there was improvement in systemic oxygen saturation and myocardial function. We postulate that congestive heart failure occurred because of severe myocardial hypoxia and ...